


The 1994 Battle of the Performers

by vanillann



Series: The 1994 Battle of the Performers [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, Sunset Curve (Julie and The Phantoms)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28573197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillann/pseuds/vanillann
Summary: Sunset Curve found their first ever gig, the only problem is to enter they must have a dance number to enter. When they see (Y/N) (L/N) dance to their song, they know exactly who they need has choreographer and lead dancer, the only problem is (Y/N) just recovered from a torn ACL and still has nerves about the whole thing. Maybe things can work out for the dancer and the band, or maybe more than muscles will tear.
Relationships: Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms)/Reader
Series: The 1994 Battle of the Performers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2093580
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

“Look what I found on the bulletin board!”

Alex looked around his locker, Luke's smiling face next to a piece of paper held tightly in his grip. He closed his locker and pulled the paper out of Luke’s hands, reading over the word.

Battle of the Performers

December 12th, 1994

The Charles Theatre

“What’s this?”

“This, my friend, is our first live gig,” Luke tapped the top of the page.

“A gig?”

Alex and Luke looked up once they heard Reggie’s voice sound from beside them.

“Yep, it's local but it’s something.”

Luke was over the moon about the plan, I mean come on a gig, that’s all that matters, to say the least.

“Perfect timing, my vintage leather jacket just came in,” Reggie nodded his head, just as happy about the news of the gig.

“Hey,” Bobby came up behind Alex, giving him a small pat on the shoulder and waving at the other guys. He looked over Alex's shoulder, reading over the words just as Alex did seconds ago.

“Are we gonna enter?”

“Yes,” Luke was fast to answer, bouncing on his toes at the idea of finally sharing their music with the world. Alex was about to open his mouth to say something about the paper but the sound of the hall going quite caught his attention.

(Y/N) (L/N) held her bag close to her shoulder, smiling at a few people that passed. The once confident girl seemed out of her element as she made her way to her locker.

“I didn’t know she was out of physical therapy yet?” Bobby muttered quietly to the rest of the group. Their eyes trained on the girl as she smiled when others did and accept the sad apologies.

“Did you hear they kicked her from the dance team?” Reggie spoke, overhearing the conversation from his history class yesterday.

Each boy in Sunset Curve felt horrible for the dancer, after the incident with her ACL and her long recovery. They all had just as much of a dream as she did and they’d be wrecked if they lost it all.

As the girl made it closer to the group Luke adjusted himself in front of her, giving a sympathetic smile.

“Hey (Y/N),” his voice was soft, looking around the halls at all the people that watched the two. A quick glare and half the heads in the hall were back to their original conversation.

“Patterson?”

“Just wanted to apologize, you know-”

“It’s fine, wasn’t anyone's fault,” his heart was ripping out as the girl passed him and moved around him. Her head hung low and broken and she opened her locker and rummaged through it. Luke said nothing, moving back with his little group as his eyes watched her a little longer before turning back.

“So the gig?”

“We can’t enter,” Alex closed his own locker, moving the paper for Luke’s eyes. He pointed to the requirements that were printed at the bottom of the page.

MUST HAVE A DANCE NUMBER WITH LIVE PERFORMANCE

“What,” Luke ripped the paper, holding it between his fingers as he read over the words while Bobby helped guide him throughout the halls.

“They can’t do this!”

“They can, it’s their battle,” Alex commented, giving his friend a sympathetic smile. He could tell how excited he was about the idea of a gig, just for it to be ruined by their underprepared band.

Luke sighed, waving Reggie and Bobby bye and they made their way to English, and Luke and Alex had Gym.

“This is trash,” Luke pouted as he made his way into the locker room, Alex luckily paying attention to the both of them and held Luke’s gym bag in his hand.

“We’ll find a different gig,” Alex clapped his friends on the shoulder, finding a stall and quickly dipping in before someone else found it. Luke didn’t care enough at the moment to find his own, easily taking off his “school-approved” shirt his mother made him wear into his muscle tee.

“Yeah, but this one would’ve shown all of our parents, mine and yours, maybe even Reggie’s,” Luke’s shoulders dropped at that fact. He just wanted Reggie's parents to stop fighting all the time, Alex’s parents get over their old age ways, and his own parents to just understand it’s going to work.

Alex frowned at the thought, knowing everyone had their own reason past the love for music and why they needed a gig.

“She’ll never make it back on the dance team, they’ll have to have try-outs,” a group of “shit-heads” as Bobby would call them came into the locker room. Alex and Luke knew they were talking about (Y/N), which pissed them off and how funny they found the poor girl's pain.

But something else was rattling in Luke’s brain.

Try-outs.

“Alex,” Luke’s infectious smile was back as he grabbed the top of the stall Alex was in, pushing himself up and holding himself there as he watched his friend with a goofy laugh. Alex fell backward, looking up at Luke with his gym shorts barely on all the way.

“We hold try-outs for the dancers, get our own dance team.”

Alex shook his head, standing back up and pulling the pants up all the way while looking up at his friend.

“We don’t know anything about dance, plus who would try-out for our band,” Alex opened the door of the stall, Luke still keeping his grip and the door swung back.

“The dance team is super picky, anyone not on it will take any opportunity they can get,” Luke jumped down, finally moving to his bag to change into his own gym shorts.

“I don’t know Luke.”

It wasn’t the worse plan, Alex could agree on that but realistically it would be hard and while they did have time with it being September and all it wasn’t going to be easy to make the whole thing come to life.

Sunset Curve’s music at the moment was good for head bumping but a serious dance routine would take some work from everyone.

“Let’s ask Reggie and Bobby before we decide?”

Alex watched Luke bite his lip and give his best puppy dog eyes.

“I can work with that.”

*

“I dig it,” Reggie gave a goofy smile and bit into the apple that he was just attempting to juggle seconds ago. Luke jumped in his seat, smiling widely as 1/2 of the group had said they liked the idea.

“What inspired this idea?” Bobby asked, shrugging as he stole a chip from Alex's bag, which caused Alex to roll his eyes.

Luke simply turned around, doing his best to hide the fact he was watching (Y/N) as she looked to be in a heated discussion with the dance team captain, Megan Ray, who looked broken about the discussion but standing her ground.

“Someone mentioned they’d have to replace her with try-outs in the locker room,” Luke muttered, watching as the girl jabbed her finger into the table. most likely trying to make her way back on the team.

“I feel so bad for her,” Bobby muttered, trying to imagine a world where he couldn’t rock out with his friends because of a freak accident.

“Me too, she’s really smart too. Basically saved me in Chemistry last year,” Reggie looked away from the girl, someone he’d considered a good person hurting so bad for something no one could fix.

Once the girl stood up from the chair, trying her best not to draw too many eyes, was when Luke went back to the plan.

“It’ll work like a dream,” Luke muttered, already pulling a piece of paper out with his chick scratch and a sad worked out calendar.

“How do you read that?”

Luke stood up and smacked Alex with the paper, easily going back to the plan.

“I talked to Coach Edison and he said the Gym is free this Friday, plenty of time to get the word out,” Luke smiled at the easily done, but still done, the research he had done.

“What will we make them dance to?”

“Now or Never,” Luke spoke with a shrug.

“Sounds well thought out,” Reggie spoke absentmindedly, trying to remember a thought he just had but lost.

“Come on, we gotta show everyone who doubts us we mean something.”

Luke didn’t know if it was that sentence that struck a chord with them but they all seemed to slowly feed into Luke’s words more after that.

“Peter?”

Reggie turned at the call of his last name, smiling once he saw (Y/N) standing behind him at the table.

“(Y/N)!”

Reggie's smile was contagious as he smiled up at the girl, doing his best to avoid talking about the leg injury, he knew if something happened to his finger and he couldn’t play bass again he wouldn’t want to talk about it.

“Do you have the notes of Henderson’s class? He’s making me take all the quizzes I missed this Friday after school,” she muttered, nodding her head to the other boys as they watched her.

“That sucks, I can give them to your last period.” She gave a quick smile as a thank you, smiling to the other boys before heading back to the table she sat at before with a few other girls they had seen her around the halls with.

“Can’t believe Henderson would be that harsh,” Bobby shivered as if scared at the thought of taking that many quizzes in one sitting.

“He hates anyone who doesn’t do classic field, probably blames her for the fall,” Reggie muttered, finally making it to the core of his apple.

“What! It wasn’t her fault,” Luke jumped in, trying his best to keep his voice down.

“We don’t think that now chill,” Alex waved at the few girls that had looked their way at the outburst.

Once everything died down, Alex and Bobby both nodded to one another, then looking at Luke.

“This Friday it is.”

*

“This is going horrible,” Reggie whispered to Luke at the girl before they tried to dramatically do a split but ending up awkwardly crawling on the floor.

“Thank you, Sara, we’ll get back with you,” Luke spoke as soon as the music stopped, reaching over to press stop on the crappy camera they found deep in Bobby’s studios yesterday.

Luke’s finger slipped and he was too worked up to try and find the button so he simply left the camera one, waving as Sara skipped out from the gym.

“Well at least she didn’t puke,” Bobby muttered, still in shock and how easily the one boy had his entire lunch on the gym floor.

“That was a nice touch.”

Luke stood up, slowly walking around the table to stand in front of his other friends.

“This is going horribly! Where are the dancers in this place?”

“Probably on the dance team,” Alex spoke up, smiling sarcastically at Luke.

“How about we go to the vending machine,” Reggie jumped up, easily diffusing the tension from the room as the rest agreed a snack would be nice.

They all made their way from the room, all talking about the different dancers and who they thought might be best.

“Maddie was good, but she couldn’t choreograph an entire team,” Bobby waited as Reggie looked over the different options in the machine.

“I didn’t even think about that,” Luke sighed, slowly becoming more and more annoyed with this whole idea.

“Look-”

Alex was cut off when he heard the faint sound of guitar and drums echoing the halls of the old sad school.

“Does anyone else hear that?”

“What? Reggie’s head-turning as he chose between M&M or Hershey's,” Luke felt back, laying on one of the tables in the cafeteria.

“Hey!”

Alex rolled his eyes, following the sound of the music, hearing his own beat and Luke’s voice sing from the gymnasium. He walked slowly, stopping at the double door, looking through the tempered glass at the figure in the room. He heard his friends run from the gym, meeting his side as they all looked in the gym at the same sight.

(Y/N) glided across the floor, her hands held on both sides of her head as she easily slid across the floor in her sweat pants. She moved from that to a split, easily jumping up from that and doing small little kicks to the beat of the music.

“Wow,” Luke watched as the girl threw her head back, eyes closed as she took in the music that the boys knew by heart at this point.

She clapped along with the music, looking as alive with the music as the boys did when they played. Once the beat dropped the girl attempted to spin out, catching her leg the wrong way sending her to the floor.

“Oh no,” Reggie and Alex didn’t waste any time before pushing the double doors open and running to the groaning girls' side. Luke and Bobby were hot on their trail, sliding as they all huddled around her.

“Are- are you okay?”

She sat up slightly, holding her knee to her chest with her face showing obvious pain.

“I’m fine- Uhm, does anyone have water?”

Luke didn’t waste time reaching to the “judge” table and taking his own water from the table. He turned back and handed it to her, looking at her with panic in his eye.

“Thank you,” she let out a shaky breath, letting herself calm down while twisting the cap open.

“You really are an amazing dancer,” Bobby commented, thinking now the panic was gone would be a nice time to mention it.

“I was,” she spoke as she looked to her feet, watching her beat-up tennis shoes with a clenched jaw.

“Uhm actually he means present tense,” Luke laughed like the situation was funny. I mean he just watched her glide and smile all with her eyes closed.

She wasn’t even scared of being bad, she knew she was that good.

“Did you miss the fall?”

He knew the attitude wasn’t at him, he knew she had a right to be angry about her whole world-changing.

“You were great before the fall,” Reggie spoke in a soft voice, hurt about watching her without permission.

“No, I was better before.” She looked up, taking in the room when her eyes stopped on the video camera that was flashing red light.

“Is that recording?”

Luke looked at the camera, jumping up and stopping the recording. He un- screwed in from the tripod and made his way over to her.

“Watch it,” he held out the video to her but she simply pushed it away.

“No thanks, just delete it,” Luke was shocked, to say the least. She could still dance, like real dance, and she was throwing it away.

“You’re just scared,” he challenged the girl, earning a harsh “Luke” from Alex, warning him not to touch that topic with a ten-foot pole.

“You’d be scared if you went through what I went through,” she spoke hurtfully, righting to say.

Luke thought everything over, he didn’t know much about the injury but that it was a torn muscle in the knee and that was the end of it. But something that tears can technically heal, he just didn’t know how that worked exactly, he hated science class.

“She has a point,” Bobby smiled at the girl, doing his best not to say the wrong thing.

“Well, face your fear!”

“Look what happened when I did,” she motioned for someone to help her up, Reggie giving his shoulder and helping her stand slightly. Her body was obviously still in shock and she was slowly taking his arm.

“We can help you! Join us on the Battle of the Performers,” Luke knew it might come off selfish, but he really wanted to help her fight her fears face first. It must suck not doing what you love, but she had a chance so why not take it?

“Do you know how hard that is to win?” She thought it was funny, to say the least. The band was good, she wouldn’t be shocked if she heard them on the radio in a few years with some famous award, but people just as new and good to the scene would come from far and wide for a chance at this competition.

Plus, if they really wanted to win they’d find a dancer who wasn’t broken.

“You’ll find someone better,” she nodded to Reggie and let her leg finally work properly again, thankful she would add.

“Nobody we’ve seen is like you!” He was so close to her face, giving his puppy dog eyes as he would with the others, always getting what he wanted then.

“I’m sorry, but no. Have fun with the scouting.”

She nodded at each boy, slowly making herself excused from the now tender room as Luke felt his dreams walk away.

“She has a right to be scared,” Alex spoke, trying his best to see both sides.

“Yeah, but she needed to punch fear like she wanted to punch the dance team captain,” Luke pouted, looking at the girl who left without another look. He was hoping she’d come back like in those horrible 80′s rom-coms Alex watched so much, but she never came back.

He held the camera in his hand, looking at the tape that sat paused. Her face looked almost scared as she stepped into the gym.

“We’ll find someone Luke,” Bobby set a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder.

“Yeah, but we could have had her.”


	2. Milo's

“Hi, is this the Peters residents?”

Whoever picked up the phone shushed the person that was yelling in the background, missing the reserver as I could hear everything.

“Who’s asking?” The voice was rough and it reminded me of my step-mother and her never-ending cigarette problem.

“I know your son, I was wondering if he was home because I have something of his,” I looked to the well planned out history notes that I held tightly in my hand.

I know I could have, no should have, just waited for Monday to return the papers but I couldn’t stop thinking about yesterday in the gym and that stupid video.

Was I actually decent? I knew I wasn’t the same level I was at one point but I had a chance and according to the four, she wasn’t bad.

“He’s not here, that boy, he’s probably at that Bobby’s boy house,” I nodded even if they couldn’t hear me, understanding this nasty language more than I wish.

“Do you know their address?”

“Yeah yeah, 458 Sunset Road,” I opened my mouth, ready to thank the lady but the phone was hung up quickly and I rolled my eyes. I was thankful that my parents with ahead and divorce when things started getting bad.

I grabbed the papers a little tighter in my hands, realizing I lived a block or so from the house in question and left the keys on my bedside table. No need to waste gas for some notes that I didn’t even need to drop off. I walked down the carpet stairs of my house and walked out the front door.

As soon as I made it from the door I felt the sun run over my skin, calming to my overthinking mind as I grabbed the railing, careful not to make my knee worse.

Did they delete the video as I asked?

Was this stupid?

I knew how desperate they were, it could have been all a plan to get me a part of the team because if I trusted them then some other dancers might. I was respected in the dance community and I knew the numbers to call.

I watched my feet, skipping each crack in the pavement as I did so for something for my brain to focus on.

Would they really help me face this fear?

Were they just selfish?

As I turned down one of the roads I could hear a faint sound of loud music drift over the streets, kids drawing on the road with chalk and bobbing their head.

I couldn’t believe the difference between the two sides of the neighbors, how proper and elegant my side was compared to the dancing kids, and the loud music. I spotted a small lemonade stand across from the house I was heading for.

A light smile graced my lips, amazed at the little community the little space had. It wasn’t just doctors and lawyers packed together trying to be better than the next yard.

I stopped at the driveway for the house, looking over the black roof and the white exterior of the house. Would it be weird just showing up?

We weren’t friends, no problem between me and the four but still, I definitely shouldn’t know where one lives and the only reason I knew that was from a phone call with the Peters, which I got from the phone book.

Maybe this was weird, very very weird. I panicked when I heard some sort of door open, the loud boyish laugh drifting from wherever to my spot at the end of the driveway.

“That might be one of our best works,” the happy voice was nice, the atmosphere obviously better than yesterday.

I panicked, turning around while my sweaty hands gripped the notes in my hand tightly.

“(Y/N)?”

I closed my eyes, taking a small breath in and turning back to the four boys I knew were looking at me widely.

“Hi,” I nodded, looking at each of their confused faces. I knew this would be weird.

“I have Reggie’s notes,” I held them out to the boy who was clad in a leather jacket as he gave a soft smile.

“Thanks, how’d you know I’d be here?”

I was thankful his voice was disgusted and angry but nice and gentle, just what I needed right now.

“Found you in the phone book,” I nodded, wondering if I should apologize for the household, but I backed off when I realized it wasn’t my place.

“You called my parents?”

I watched his shoulders drop, his face psychically panicking as he looked back to his friends for some help.

“Yeah, they seemed Uhm, nice?”

Reggie watched me for a few seconds while I rocked back and forth on my beat-up tennis shoes, doing my best not to combust at the sight.

“Oh, Uhm yeah,” he nodded, a mutual agreement made with each other's eyes not to mention any farther.

“Is that all?”

Patterson, or Luke, stood behind Reggie obviously trying to protect the boy from whatever I might say next.

“No,” I nodded, doing my best to come off as a friend and not a foe but it felt too late from that as Luke gave a grumpy smile.

“Bye-bye then,” Luke waved, keeping Reggie close to his side. Reggie looked up at Luke, begging him to stop his anger toward me.

I turned around, doing my best to run away for the four without making myself look more like an idiot, but I’ve never been great about that with boys.

“Do you have the video?”

Shut up (Y/N)!

“Uhm, yeah,” Bobby cut in, his voice calm as if not to scare me or make me mad. I didn’t know which but I understood both sides.

“Can I see it?” I turned back around this time, taking in some heavy breaths as I prepared for faces that looked like they would hurt me, but it never came.

Reggie looked to be bouncing on his heels as his smile grew ten times the size, Alex looked to be taking breaths that were calming his nerves, Bobby nodding his head at me with a smirk, and Luke looked to bite his bottom lip trying to hide his smile.

“Yeah, no totally,” Luke looked at his other bandmates, smirking as he walked past me. I was about to say something, pointing over at the house where they had just left from.

“We have to get Milo’s first,” Luke called over his shoulder, pointing over at the lemonade stand that I noticed once I turned the block.

“Milo’s?” I watched the other three follow Luke, each turning back to me while waving their arms.

“You’ll never have anything better,” Alex called over his shoulder, smiling once the little boy came running from the house. He almost came alive at the sight of the boys standing in front of his stand, the boy couldn’t be more than 8.

I slowly walked across the street, looking to both sides twice before jogging to join the boys that seemed to smile as the little boy made it down his stair railing and skipped to the older ones.

“Morning boys,” he spoke with a small lisp and seemed to be missing a tooth but his smile would have lit up a room in the entire state.

“Morning Milo,” Luke responded, leaning against the stand before it shook slightly and he hurriedly pulled away.

“Who’s that?”

He didn’t seem bothered by my presence, just curious about it. I was wondering why I never knew about what went on around the block from my house, but that didn’t matter as Reggie grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the front.

“A friend from school, her name (Y/N),” Bobby introduces me, the boy smiling as he holds his hand out for a handshake. I reached out, placing my hand in his and he gave a firm shake. I was shocked at his confidence, making me miss my own.

“I’m Milo, Sunset Road official lemonade and bakery stand,” his voice made a smile grace my lips, watching as he left a cute little kiss on my knuckle, earning a laugh from the other boys.

“Okay loverboy, we demand service,” Luke jokily slammed his hand on the table of the stand, pulling the sweater on my arm so he rested back to my side.

“Coming up!”

The boy dived behind the stand, pulling out a cheap bucket he got from a local shop with four mason jars inside. Once he pulled them out I noticed that each one had glitter and colored paper. Each had different drawings and little cut-outs.

I reached from one, Luke trying to grab my arm but I was already spinning it around, in horrible handwritten was the name “LUKE” in all capital letters.

“Oh wow,” I smiled at the horrible handwritten and the little microphone that definitely didn’t look like a microphone. The blue and red glitter made the sight even better.

“They made them once they became regular after babysitting me one night,” Milo cut in, holding up a finger to run back in the house, probably to grab the lemonade.

I smiled turning around and smiling at the others around us. Bobby looked as embarrassed but Alex was simply laughing at the others and Reggie looked proud.

“I came to watch my tape but this might be better,” I tried to turn my laugh into a cough since I still wasn’t that close with the boys.

“Hush,” Luke bumped my shoulder. Milo's wide laugh brought me back to the boy as he held a plain mason jar in his hand.

*

I couldn’t believe myself as I watched my feet glide across the floor, for the first time in a long time. I definitely wasn’t as good as I once was, which made me upset me but I still wasn’t half that bad.

“See! We told you,” Luke had made sure to sit close beside me on the couch of what seemed to be their studio. He wanted to watch how I reacted, thinking I would change my mind.

I couldn’t help but think I would, I mean I came here on a Saturday for a reason and it wasn’t the return notes.

“I’m not as good as I was, but I’m not bad,” I kept watching, smiling before I watched myself spin. My body falling to the floor as it did all those months ago, the horror-filled me up before Alex ripped the video camera from my grip.

“That’s not important,” he nervously laughed, hiding the camera behind his back but I could still hear their panicked voice from yesterday still.

“Because it will never happen again,” Reggie cut in, I could already tell he was optimistic for the four.

“But it could and one more bad fall and I might not walk again.”

I knew how dramatic I sounded but it seemed the only way to get through their skulls. I rolled my eyes, standing up from the couch, not even stopping as I walked to the open doors.

“I don’t know why I even came, I’ll see you guys around,” I waved over my shoulder, letting the video that I would hope have given me hope finally stop playing behind the blonde boys back.

“You came because you miss it.”

I shouldn’t have thought over Luke’s words, he just wanted to win the Battle of the Performers, but man it struck a deep chord. He took me rooted at the door as a sign to continue.

“You miss dancing and if I was as good as you, I would be too,” Luke's voice grew closer and closer as he walked closer to my frozen figure.

“I have a question for you,” I spun on my heel, stepping back slightly when I realized how close he was. I could smell the scent of sugar and musk, which was a nice change to the overbearing scents I was used to.

“Shoot!”

“What if you broke your wrist, snapping it just the right way that you could never bend it around the neck of your guitar the same ever again, you couldn’t slide your fingers over the frets the same, would you still play?”

I knew how harsh I sounded, but the truth was harsher because that is exactly what happened to me. I tried a lift cause I was bored during practice and now my dreams were practically gone, so I knew harsh was the only way he’d see it.

“Yes, because music is more than just being good. Sure, it sucks but I could still feel it and love it, why’d give up something that special!” He spoke wildly with his hands, obviously not realizing how close we are as he stepped closer.

“But watching someone else dance and myself dancing are two different things,” I spoke, trying to find a flaw in his logic but his point was clear.

Just cause I wouldn’t be as good doesn’t mean I’ll never be good again.

“But you dancing is still possible, we have video evidence,” that Alex held up the video, pressing play as I watched myself calmly walk into the gym, my hands close to my chest as I looked around the room.

“Join us in the Battle of the Performers and maybe you’ll feel it again, let two dreamers chase their dreams together,” he spoke happily, seemingly happy with his words.

“You listen to way too much John Lennon,” I spoke, shaking my head, turning around, and finally leaving the studio. I felt tears threatened to fall down my cheek but knew better than to cry with a chance of getting caught.

As I jogged down the long driveway I was on, the sign I had been asking myself since the fall. Milo stood in his front yard, talking with an older man I had seen work at a bakery a town or two over.

He seemed to have a children's cookbook in his hand, pointing over different things as Milo smiled and took notes in a black and white notebook. Maybe it was stupid to use this as my sign, there were plenty of others that made more sense, but after listening to little 7, soon to be 8, year-old, Milo goes on and on about how he was going to be a baker even if he wasn’t great at it now.

Because he liked it, that was all. He was bad, according to Bobby he almost burned his house down, but he liked baking so who was to stop him? The only person that Milo let stop him was his mother, but he said that’s only because he can’t reach the top shelves.

I turned around, my confidence that I had missed washing over me in a wave of adrenaline, and I didn’t mind it, I missed it.

The doors to the studio were still open and I could hear much talk, maybe tuning but nothing more. I made my way to the door, standing in the center of the doorway while looking over each boy.

These boys played because they liked it, they just happened to be good.

“Need something?”

People didn’t have to be good at something to like it.

“Is she okay?”

And maybe they don’t win the competition, but you can’t win something you don’t try.

“Is she having a stroke?”

I took shaky breaths, looking at each boy's confused face.

“How long till we bomb this battle?”

My words were simple but the smiles that broke across each face were way more complex and beautiful.

“She came thought!” Bobby yelled, jumping up and down as Alex laughed, pulling his friends into a tight hug.

“Sunset Curve gonna win, Sunset Curve gonna win,” Reggie sang in a loud boom, smiling as he did a funny little dance with some sort of imaginary rope.

Luke pushed himself from the couch, running over and wrapping his arms around the back of my head. My two hands rested on his biceps, smiling at the vibe that had busted the room wide open.

“Look’s like you’ll need your own cup at Milo’s with how often you’ll be here.”


	3. Spaghetti Night

“Crap!”

My heel hit the leg of the coffee table, my body going numb at the idea of ruining my knee. As I watched myself almost hit the hard ground of the studio, I felt two hands grab my shoulder.

I was bought slowly to the ground by two of the dancers, Florence and Regan, as they made sure I was okay. A few other girls we had recruited of the dance number rushed to my side, each asking was okay. Devon, the male dancer for the team asked a few other girls to step back as he checked my knee.

“Does it hurt?”

“I’m fine, I didn’t even hit the ground,” it wasn’t a lie, that fall didn’t affect my knee badly and after a few minute break, I’d be back to choreographing the team.

“Milo’s was looking-“

A few girls looked over their shoulders when we heard the band walk in through the open doors of the studio.

“What happened?”

Luke almost dropped his glass as he hurried to one side, Reggie to my other quickly.

“I’ll get the first aid kit,” Bobby’s voice echoed over the room but before I could stop him Alex was rushing him out the room.

“My heel hit the coffee table, I’m fine,” I did my best to calm each member of the band, Reggie easily calmed down once I had a quick smile. Alex didn’t say anything as he hovered over me, keeping an eye on Devon as he touched my knee.

“We can get rid of the coffee table”, Luke spoke, watching Devon’s finger ghost over my knee before he spoke up.

“Maybe you shouldn’t do that since you aren’t a doctor.”

“I read about different techniques to massage hurt muscles when I found out about (Y/N) injury,” he spoke back, smiling to me before I pushed his hand away.

“Thank you, Devon, but I’m fine.”

“I got the first aid kit,” Bobby yelled back, holding above his head and pushing through the group.

“I’m fine,” I was exhausted at repeating the words at this point, I just felt and I’d be fine.

“Your heels are bleeding.”

I looked up at Alex, following his line of sight to my heel that hit the coffee table. It wasn’t a lot of blood, I didn’t even notice it, but it was enough to have everyone in the room panic.

“I’ll do it,” Luke ripped the bandaid from Bobby’s hand but I grabbed it from his own.

“I’m not a child, I can take care of myself,” I opened it up and handed the trash to Reggie who held his hand out for it.

“I think practice is over for today,” Alex turned to the members, each one agreeing that I needed a break.

“No! We’ve only been going for like an hour!”

“More like three,” Luke squeezed my shoulder and pointed to the clock on the wall, surely it wasn’t almost five?

“We will meet Monday afternoon,” Regan held her hand out to me, which I happily took. Luke was at my side, his hands ghosting around me but never touching me.

“But-“

“Shhh!” Alex held his finger over my mouth, quickly pulling it away once he realized.

“Sorry I forgot we aren’t that close-“

“It’s fine, we are close enough for you to be honest with me,” I smiled, sincere with him. Alex was nervous about my presence, I could tell how he avoided certain jokes and such. I just wanted him to understand that at this point, they were the closest friends I got.

“Hey, call me later and we can go over different ideas,” Devon pulled me from my thought, smiling as he wrapped one arm around me and brought me to his side.

“Uhm, yeah sure,” I spoke gently, giving his side a squeeze and nodding once he let go.

“Bye guys,” I waved everyone off, each saying it back and leaving down the long driveway of Bobby’s house.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

I looked over my shoulder and Reggie and smiled.

“I’m fine, you all need to stop making a scene,” I went to move to the couch but my leg cramped up, my face morphing into one of discomfort.

“Making a scene, huh?”

I said nothing about Luke’s comment and grabbed his arm instead, each boy in a panic and not knowing if they could touch me or not.

“It’s fine, I don’t bite.”

As soon as I spoke, I felt hands on my let’s and arm, each trying to help the situation but making it incredibly awkward.

“How about I sit on the couch?”

Each agreed, weird shuffling to the couch that was against the wall. Once I made it and I turned around and flopped backward, letting go of Luke’s arm in the process.

I closed my eyes, letting my palm dig at it for a minute before I noticed the burned feeling on my face. As I opened my eyes, each boy watched me with worry.

“I am fine, I’m going to malfunction if I have to say it again!”

I knew it was out of worry, if I wasn’t running off adrenaline I would have been more worried. After the revelation two weeks ago I had been pushing myself, thinking I was the same dancer I was before.

But I wasn't. I felt more and I had to think about moves more often, I wasn’t the same dancer and I thought the more I kept the dancer the more would come back to me.

But that didn’t look to be the case.

“I need to get home,” I muttered, smiling slightly when the cramp went away.

“Are you gonna be okay?”

I nodded, sitting up straighter with no help and pushing off the couch as if nothing happened.

“I’m not in a nursing home for a reason,” I winked at Alex, gaining soft chuckles from the other members.

It was nice, feeling like we were all friends. I couldn’t tell if we were or not. I only ever came over for practice and we didn’t speak about much besides the battle or sometimes about Milo’s, but otherwise, that was the end. But sometimes we’d be sitting around waiting for the other dancers, and it felt light and airy, easy. We could laugh and make little jokes with each other, it just would’ve been nice to be able to call them friends.

They were good guys, I knew that.

“Boys!”

I looked around the boys to see a taller woman, smiling widely at the band. She was gorgeous with tan skin and messy hair. She had wild curls and older band tees that had some holes around the collar.

“Dinner,” the woman, who I was pretty sure was Bobby's mother, held her arm out as if to tell the boys they could exit.

Each jumped with joy, smiling as they all made their way from the studio to the driveway.

“You must be (Y/N), the boys told me about you,” she smiled as I slowly made my way out, not as excited as the boys who were already at the door waiting.

“Nice to meet you,” I smiled, proud to have finally met the woman who’s been letting me dance in her studio.

“Even nicer to meet you,” she took a right, walking to the door of the gorgeous house. I took a left, prepared to hit the sidewalk and make it back to my empty house.

“Where are you going?”

I turned around, watching as Bobby and his mother waved me over, holding the door open for me while Alex, Reggie, and Luke waited inside.

“Oh I can’t Ms-“

“Call me Heather,” she called back, jogging slightly as she left Bobby to hold the door. She jogged till she stood in front of me, guiding my shoulders back to the house.

“Dinner is on us,” she smiled, watching me as I grabbed the railing to the small steps and walked up. Bobby smiled as he gave a joking bow, a smile gracing my lips and Reggie was jumping at the scene.

“It’s a tradition that to be part of the band you have to eat at the Wilson household,” Reggie smiled larger as I actually walked in the house.

“I’m not part of the band,” I corrected, pointed a finger over my shoulder as I admired the high ceilings and the beautiful wooden architect.

“Eh, close enough,” Luke pulled the back of my shirt, silently telling me to follow him. It wouldn’t be hard to find the kitchen by the way the smell cascaded each hall, making the house feel homer than ever.

As I stepped foot into the dining area, I saw Alex finding a plate in a cabinet and setting it at the table.

“Mr. Wilson out of town,” Heather muttered, filling in the small blanket she assumed I had.

“You know what that means!”

Each boy seemed to jump over this news, which was odd. Who wanted their parents out of town?

“Spaghetti night!”

The boys seemed even more excited, taking their seats with giant smiles on their faces. I said nothing, still taking in the family photos of the happy family and the gorgeous china.

“I think we’ve overwhelmed her,” Alex whispered, not quite enough but still light.

“I just didn’t expect this,” I didn’t know how to explain it but it was weird eating a meal at a table with people, I hadn’t done it in so long.

“Well expect it now,” Luke but back, patting the seat between Alex and him, Reggie and Bobby on the other side with a spot for Bobby’s mom.

“Ready!”

I had barely made it to my seat when Luke was pulling me down, smiling widely as Bobby’s mother walked out with a giant bowl of noodles in one hand and sauce in the other.

“Bobby dear, grab the breadsticks,” she called as she placed the bowls in the center of the table. Bobby wasted no time as he hurried to the kitchen for the breadsticks.

“You’ll love this,” Luke smiled, reaching for the silverware in the noodle bowl. I was shocked when he grabbed my plate, placing food on it, instead of his own.

“Heather taught me how to be a gentleman,” Luke spoke as he gave my plate back, sending a wink my way in the process.

I hide my smile with my hand, turning to look the other way to come face to face with Alex.

“You need to try it first, band rule,” he pointed around the table as all eyes waited for me to dive into the food. I decided not to wait, as Luke looked like he was going to cry if he didn’t eat soon, rolling some around on my fork before I brought it to my lips.

The noodles were perfectly done and the sauce absorbed itself perfectly. I could taste a hit of basil and maybe some pepper as the food melted on my tongue. I smiled as I chewed, giving a big thumbs up once I finally swallowed.

“Yes!”

Each boy didn’t waste time, reaching for breadsticks and carrots, laughing about lord knew what as they did so.

“So (Y/N),” Luke turned to me halfway through the night, spaghetti sauce smeared across his chin.

“-How does it feel to officially join Sunset Curve,” he smiled goofily, doing his best not to show he was speaking with food in his mouth.

“I’m not a part of Sunset Curve, remember?”

“Well you’re the official choreographer of Sunset Curve,” he spoke back, picking up a breadstick and smashing it in his mouth.

I only laughed, not worried about it too much. I was on the band until the battle then we’d move on. It’d be nice to be friends with the guys but that didn’t mean we’d still talk.

It would be fun while it lasted.

“I have a mason jar in my mailbox, Milo says you need an official one,” Heather spoke, smiling widely as I did my best to keep my drink down.

“That’s not necessary,” I tried to argue but Alex placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You can’t get out of this one,” he gave me a straight face but as soon as I started laughing he followed behind me.

“I’m sorry,” I laughed along, trying to look back at Alex but every time we did we started laughing again.

“Is there an inside joke I’m not getting?”

Reggie’s words caused Alex and me to laugh harder, trying my best to calm my nerves for the first time that day.

“They are going to rise against us now,” Bobby spoke up, standing from the table dramatically and moving to get something from the kitchen. Alex bumped his shoulder with mine, making my nerves from earlier disappear completely.

The dinner went on with laughs and jokes, which made me feel truly like a member of the band.

“I should really head home,” I spoke as Bobby took my plate to be washed off, placing the napkin that Luke put on my lap as a joke back on the table.

“Let me walk you,” Luke stood up beside me, handing his plate to Reggie who followed Bobby into the kitchen.

“I’m fine.”

“What if you fall?”

I rolled my eyes, waving to Heather who was in the kitchen, thanking her for the nice home-cooked meal.

“I’m not dancing, I can walk perfectly fine,” I said my goodbye’s, Alex giving a quick side hug with his before I walked to the door with Luke trailing after me.

“But-“

“I’m fine,” I spoke for the millionth time that day, smiling over my shoulder and I left the warm house to the cold outdoors.

“Fine, if you fall scream,” Luke crossed his arms, watching me walk down the stairs to the long driveway.

“Will do!”

I have a thumbs up over my shoulder, not daring to look back as I made my way down the driveway to the sideway.

“I mean really yell,” his voice echoed back, making a laugh boil over to the night sky above me.

“I’ll scream bloody murder just for you Patterson!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic can be found on my tumblr @vanillann


	4. The Cool Kids Table

“Look who it is!”

I jumped when I realized how close the voice was, looking over my shoulder at a smiling Alex and Luke. I tried to see if I saw Reggie or Bobby but Alex caught on to my weird glares.

“They had to stay after class a few extra minutes, got in trouble for distraction yesterday,” Alex shrugged, speaking as if it was a casual thing but really thinking about it, it was very possible.

“Oh?” 

I was still slightly confused why they were at my locker, we weren’t really friends I suppose. Just five teen’s who had dreams and were doing the other a favor.

“Oh? Where is your excitement?” Luke bounced on his heel, the wild smile never left his lips as he looked at me. I said nothing, reaching for the books in my locker for the next period.

“Who has excitement during school?”

“Who wouldn’t when it’s time for lunch,” I rolled my eyes with a smile sneaking its way on my lips at the excitement that followed the group.

They truly did try to make the best out of everything.

“Nothing ever happens at lunch,” I shut my locker, turning around and letting my backrest on the cool metal that sent a shiver through me.

“Cause you’re sitting at the wrong table,” Alex smiling was changeling Luke’s, which felt like a greater competition than the Battle of the Performers.

“I sit with some old dancers, they don’t talk much.”

The dancer team was nice enough to still speak to me after the spilt, but that didn’t make it easier to watch the people I considered my friends talk about the thing you loved most without you. It wasn’t going to get easier but I couldn’t let myself dig too deep in my own head.

“Not anymore,” Luke skipped backward, letting his back hit the handle of the cafeteria door and holding his hand out for Alex and me to follow me.

“Did they say something to you?”

Easy breathing, you didn’t do anything wrong. They kicked you off the team so you found otherways to dance with.

“No, we just thought you should sit with us,” Alex wrapped a light arm around my shoulder and guided me around the different table until we spotted the one in the very corner. It was one of the smaller tables within the room, definitely pushed to the corner on accident but nobody cared enough to move it.

“Sit with you?”

“Say it nicer why don’t you,” Alex glared at me, a hit of a joke behind his eyes as I looked between him and the table.

Milo’s and dinner was one thing, but this felt like a friendship level up. The school was a harsh place where you were grouped together with the people you hung out with, not that Sunset Curve was the worst people to be grouped with. It was just a lot, my last two years in this place I would be seen as one of them or seen as the girl who was kicked from the dance team than Sunset Curve because after this battle I would be a faint history to them.

“Are you sure?”

“Yep,” Luke popped the “p”, already sitting at the table with his leg bouncing from either nerves or excitement, the two things Luke Patterson ran off of.

I didn’t even get to place my books down before he was standing up and taking them from my hand, placing them out of reach on the bench with a little smirk.

“I need to start on the Economics homework,” I tried to reach over the table but his hand rested on the top of my books, pushing them farther from my grasp.

“Lunch isn’t for homework,” his smirk was almost enchanted to watch, but my homework under his rough finger was way more important at the moment.

“You aren’t going to get those books back, I would know,” Alex spoke up from behind me, leaving a seat beside him open for me with his feet swing back and front under the table. I said nothing, giving up and taking a seat, resting my chin in my palm while looking at both boys.

“Do you not bring food to lunch?” I reached into the tote bag on my shoulder, letting the cool bottle of water freeze my warm hands.

“We got through the line but Bobby would kill us if we went without him,” Luke watched me, waiting for me to say something interested as the other two members of the band were still not here.

“What?”

“You didn’t scream last night,” Luke spoke, his eyes glaring under the harsh light of the cafeteria as if he was out of an old movie.

“Cause I didn’t fall?”

He didn’t think I would actually fall, did he? I had been walking fine for a month or so now, it was the most active work like dancing and running that still gave me scares. 

“(Y/N)’s sitting with us?”

I looked over my shoulder, both Reggie and Bobby stood behind me with smiles as they took their regular seats, or what I assumed, around the table. Once Reggie sat down, he held his hand out for a high five. I smiled and returned it, turning to Bobby when he sat beside me while clapping a hand on my shoulder.

“Yep, they dragged me here,” my chin pointed to Luke then Alex, earning a pout from Luke and Alex bumping his shoulder with my own.

“They aren’t house trained, sorry,” Bobby joked, earning a few stray napkins to be thrown at him from Luke.

“I am house trained, thank you very much,” he pronounced every word with sass, his pout still painted on his lips as he looked to Alex who was laughing at him.

“Let’s get in line,” Alex started to hand, pushing off the table and turning once he stood all the way. Everyone but Luke stood up, him holding his finger in the air while looking at the other members.

“I’ll sit with (Y/N) so people don’t think she’s lame with no friends,” I felt my jaw go slack, my hand feeling around for one of the napkins he had thrown at Bobby. Once I felt my finger brush one, I picked it up and threw it in his face, it going directly in his open mouth.

I covered my mouth, in shock at how perfectly it had made it in. Luke looked about as shocked as I felt, looking at me with wide eyes while removing the napkin from his mouth.

“You-” his smile was slowly forming as he held his finger out at me, pocking my hands that still covered my mouth.

“I didn’t mean to,” my words barely made it from his lips as I tried to hold my giggles back. I probably looked crazy to an outsider, watching him with a shocked smile and he scolded me.

“I thought we were friends,” he crossed his arms on the table, letting his chin rest on top of them as he looked up through his eyelashes.

“I don’t remember signing a contract for that,” I tapped my chin, raising one eyebrow and I jokily thought over the process.

“My printer broke, I’ll get it to you next Monday.”

I rolled my eyes, resting my chin back in the palm of my hand as I watched him stare at me.

“Why did you invite me to sit here?”

I definitely was the best at ruining moments, I should do it as a career at this point.

“Cause?”

He shook his head as if the answer was obvious, but that was the exact problem. It was apparently noticeable to everyone but me where I stood with the group but myself. As far as I knew we would be friends until the competition and then I’d be back to the few girls at the lunch table and they wouldn’t have to worry about my knee anymore.

“Look at this piece of chicken,” Reggie’s voice tore me from my thought, looking up at the almost black chicken tender Reggie held in-between his finger with a broken frown.

“That has to be against guidelines,” I reached out, taking the tender to look at for myself.

“Don’t say that too loud, Bobby said something similar and was threatened with detention,” Alex spoke up from beside me. His chicken was definitely in better shape but still incredibly over-cooked. I simply took the chicken and wrapped it in one of the napkins from the little argument earlier.

Reggie held out his hand, taking the trash and reaching over to make it in the trash can. He made the shot, his hands above his head and he looked back to the table with a proud smile.

“He’d made up for hitting Henderson with a paper ball yesterday,” I smile, remembering the encounter from the last period of the day, the only period I shared with any of the members of Sunset Curve besides lunch and study hall with Alex and Bobby.

“You what?”

Alex dropped his fork back on his cheap plate, looking up at Reggie with a slacked jaw.

“I didn’t mean to!”

I laughed, leaning back on the bench slightly was I wasn’t sitting so proper, something I still didn’t use to. WIth dancer become a secondary part of my life I was losing the posture I once had, cause some small back pain but nothing serious.

“How do you even do that?” Luke reached over and took an apple slice off Bobby’s plate, that’s when I noticed each boy had each of the options for the school menu. The thought alone that they formed their own little sharing system was adorable to me, my eyes jumping to each plate.

“What one?”

I looked up, Alex holding up a grape in-between his finger as he watched Luke and Reggie’s conversation unfold. I said nothing, picking the grape from in-between his finger and popping it in the air, leaning my head back and catching it with my mouth.

“Whoa!”

Bobby hit my shoulder when he saw the trick, smiling as he pointed to me with a giant smile on his face.

“Wait I missed it,” Luke leaned on his arms again, watching me closely with his bright green eyes. I said nothing, asking Alex for another grape but he was already holding one out for me. I did the same trick, moving slightly into Bobby’s side as the grape moved but still caught it easily. 

“Wait I wanna try,” both Reggie and Luke reached for the grape at the same thing, silently fighting over the fruit.

“This will keep you entertained,” Alex whispered in my ear, pointing his chin at the two and they disused who got the grape, Alex hiding the bag with the rest under the table with a little smirk. I reached over, taking one for myself and slipping it in my mouth without the two notices.

“Is it like this all the time?” I asked both Alex and Bobby, laughing when Luke said he should get it causes he’s the lead singer.

“You’ll see,” Bobby spoke, laughing when Reggie flicked Luke in the forehead and snatched the grape from his fingers. He didn’t waste time, trying to flick it but instead started to fall on the other side of the table. I stood up slightly, moving over Alex slightly with my mouth open, once I felt the fruit hit my tongue I showed the fruit in my mouth to the table.

“How did you do that?” Reggie and Luke both sat up straighter, waiting for me to explain the trick.

“A magician never shared his tricks,” I smirked, taking a bite of the grape with a smile.

“I thought you were a dancer, oh-” Reggie stopped halfway through, pointing at me with a little smile.

“You can’t be cooler than me sorry,” Luke tilted his head at me, us all standing up with her heard the school bell ring throughout the walls.

“But I am, sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic can be found on my tumblr @vanillann


	5. Superhero Luke

I let out a shaky breath, looking at myself in the long mirror in my room, and flexed my hand. I could get this spin right without falling. 

I looked at myself for a little longer, trying to tell my brain to just spin but it just wouldn’t. I could hear the phone ringing from downstairs for the millionth time but I ignored it again.

You can do this (Y/N).

The spin was fairly simple, I had done it more times than I could count when I was on the dance team, but I suppose a lot has changed since then.

I slowly lifted my foot from the ground, walking myself closely as I had finally got my brain to work with my muscles, turning my abdomen as I was about to spin when a loud knocking sound throughout my house.

I could have ignored it, I properly should have ignored it, but it was an excuse to push this spin a little longer. That was all I needed to stop watching myself in the mirror and jog down the steps of my house. The knocking didn’t stop, I was shocked the person's hand hadn’t fallen off by the house though the knocks sounded.

“Coming!”

I finally got to the large white door, swinging it open with force. I was shocked when I saw an out of breath Luke Patterson standing on my front porch, staring at me with bewildered eyes.  
“Oh god,” he looked up, taking a breath and placing a small hand on his ribs.

“What does god have to do with you banging on my door?” I leaned against the door frame, even more, confused when he pushed past me and walked into my house as if it was his own. I shocked my head, reaching for the doorknob and closing my door.

I watched him stand in the center of my living room, spinning in the center of the room as he took in the many artifacts and other things that sat around. He looked in wonder at the different stuff, almost shocked.

“Did you come for my interior designer?”

“No, I came to make sure you weren’t dying,” he tilted his head at me, a bored expression on his face as he looked at me.

“Why would I be dying?” I watched him snap out his daze of my house, following him through my own house, stopping when he found the kitchen and rushing in.

“You were an hour and a half late for practice and didn’t answer when we called on Bobby’s phone,” Luke swung open the fridge, his eyes scanning the multiple heat-up dinners and leftovers that were obviously old.

I let my thumb and pointer finger run over my temple, I had completely forgotten about practice. I had it paired with the day my dad was supposed to come back so when he didn’t it slipped my mind completely.

“I’m so sorry about that, I don’t know how I forgot.”

Luke didn’t say anything, which is why I had looked up to make sure he didn’t fall out on my floor. He closed the fridge, holding a cold bottle of water and quickly screwing off the cap and chugging the water.

“For someone as athletic as you, you acted as if you never ran before,” I commented, bumping my shoulder with his as I passed him. I pulled out one of the nice wooden seats at the island, taking a seat and letting my headrest in my palm as I waited for an answer.

“I thought you were hurt, I think I deserve to overreact.” He finished off the water bottle, throwing it over his shoulder into the trash can that sat behind him.

I shrugged, playing with the end of my sleeves as he sat across from me on the island.

“As I said, I don’t know how I forgot.” 

He raised his eyebrow, challenging me to say that one more time. I thought it over, do I tell him about my absent parents or do I push it aside. It’s not like we were close, but I also knew he wouldn’t tell a soul if I didn’t want him to.

I wouldn’t see him after the battle anyway.

“I thought my dad would be home today, when he didn’t show I guess my brain thought I was off a day,” I turned in my chair, casual looking out the kitchen window as I spoke, avoiding eye contact.

“Does he normally not show when he says he will?”

I looked over my shoulder, watching as he leaned on the island, his arm looking buffer as he put weight on them.

“Yeah, I guess.” My words were far from confident, still not making eye contact but at least this time I was facing him. I watched him reach across the table, about to grab my hand when I slowly pulled it back.

“I’m fine, I just forgot.”

I finally made eye contact, begging him silently to drop this topic, which he did when he stood up from the kitchen island.

“Come on them,” he waved his hand, walking back into my living room as if it was his own. 

“Huh?” I followed him, watching as he swung open the front door and looked at me.

“We didn’t start practice yet, hustle,” he pointed out the front door, smirking when my jaw went slack. I knew the dancer wouldn’t have stayed that long without me, why did I still need to be there?

“Are the dancers there?”

“Nope, we told them to go home a bit ago,” he shrugged, still holding the door for me to leave but I didn’t move from where I was rooted on the floor of my sad lonely house.

“Why do I need to be there?”

“We can’t have practice without all members.”

I let the words roll over my shoulder, trying my best not to overthink them as I finally moved from the place in the house to the front porch. The sky looked cloudy like it would rain soon and I regretted walking everywhere in these moments.

“Come on (Y/N)!” Luke jumped down my stairs, smiling up at me with his hint of glitter in his eyes. I wish it didn’t get to me that much, but I took his hand and walked down the stairs like a princess. 

“I hope I didn’t worry everyone too bad,” I spoke softly, I never wanted anyone to worry about me.

“I thought Alex was going to cry when Bobby mentioned you could have fallen, I didn’t even wait for anyone's word before I came running over,” Luke spoke dramatically with his hand, explaining the details of how everyone, even Heather, was worried when I never came to practice. 

He spoke so widely it was nice, much nicer than the quiet sad house I had been sitting in for hours now. It was always nice to be around them, it was nice to feel something again since the ACL.

They felt like dancing again, without the risk of falling.

“Well I’m fine, I was practicing turns,” I nodded, the walk through the cold breeze was nice, my ears enjoying the feeling of it most.

“Without anyone around?”

“Yes Luke, I was fine.” I rolled my eyes, he was the worst with this stuff. He was convinced every step I took would send me to the ground like I was a bird with broken wings. The only person who never panicked was Bobby, something I was grateful for at times. I had only fallen a handful of times and nothing serious ever.

“But what-”

“Didn’t you write a song called Now or Never?”

He nodded, his puppy dogs on full display as we kept the pace on the sidewalk.

“So what are you doing asking ‘what if’? You were the one who made me do this again.” I was the one speaking with my hands this time, trying to get through his thick skull I was going to be okay. He watched me closely as I spoke, never once interrupting me as I went on my rant.

“So what I’m hearing is I’m the reason you faced your fears,” he smirked, pointing at me with his pointer finger wiggling around. My jaw went slack, in shock that’s what he got from that.

“You all did-”

“Yeah but I was the real push,” I could see his ego growing already as he seemed to smile wider.

“Are you actually proud about pushing me when I might not have been ready?”

“Who’s talking about ‘what if” now?” He stopped, turning to look at me with his teeth biting on his bottom lip. I stopped to really look at him, taking in his features close up. Nothing else was said for a few seconds, both of us smiling as we continued the walk as if nothing happened. The silence wasn’t awkward but I just had to break it.

“Sorry about this again.”

“Not apologize, we all have our reasons why we don’t show,” Luke shrugged, both of us matching the other pace as we made our way on the sidewalk. We probably could have been walking faster but the atmosphere was so nice I didn’t want to ruin it.

“Yeah but it’s my parents and-”

“Trust me, I get bad home life,” Luke held his hand up, my apologies dying on my tongue when he looked over at me with a little titled head.

“My parents hate every time I leave for the band, they think I should be studying or something,” Luke went on, not thinking much about his words as he kicked rocks around on the sidewalk, his eyes never meeting mine.

“My parents are kinda the same, they want me to be a doctor or lawyer. It took them five days before they came to the hospital when I tore my ACL.”

Luke stopped in his tracks, I barely registered; he stopped walking before he grabbed my upper arm light;y. I turned slightly, catching the look in his eye.

“You were alone for five days?”

“I mean, I had the nurses.”

He didn’t say anything, pulling me into his chest. His arms wrapping around the back of my head, his scent overflowing my senses. I didn’t know what to do or say, my hand grabbing the front of his jacket and staying like that.

“Did you forget how to give someone a hug?”

I rolled my eyes, pushing him gently away as I kept walking back to the house. I couldn’t hear instruments so the boys must have been still waiting for Luke and me to return, properly worried sick.

“But really, I’m sorry you were alone.” I shrugged at his words, I was used to it. My parents just never came around, people had it worse and I suppose to make it easier to live my dreams without them watching me over my shoulder.

“Well, it’ll never happen again.” Luke skipped in front of me, smiling as we finally made it in front of Bobby’s house. I was about to turn down the driveway but I felt two arms wrapped around me, pulling into someone's chest. I recognized the pink hoodie and smiled, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“Why does he keep one in return?”

“I thought you were bleeding out on your floor,” Alec's panicked voice broke my heart, slowly pulling back from him with my bottom lip out.

“No, Luke saved me from my own homework,” I looked around Luke, winking at him while looking back up at Alex.

“Move, I wanna hug!”

Alex was roughly shoved from my arms replaced by Reggie, who pulled me into his side and almost whispered into my crown.

“You need a life alert,” he said with a sad voice. I felt bad for laughing at something he took seriously.

“She isn’t 87 Reg,” Bobby came to my other side, hugging me into his side without another thought.

“I’m fine, y’all are worry rats.”

I tried to move from Reggie’s grip but he didn’t let me go so I didn’t fight it, his arm staying around me as we all walked into the studio down the long driveway.

“As she said, I saved her,” Luke pointed to himself, walking over to pick his six-string off the stand with a proud smile.

“My hero,” I smiled widely, watching the way we both forgot the world's existence for a single second, a single second of bliss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is also on my tumblr @vanillann

**Author's Note:**

> this fic can be found on my tumblr @vanillann


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